Hemorrhoid Exam – The Path to Successful Hemorroid Treatment
First and foremost, if you suspect that you may have hemorrhoids don’t wait or be embarrassed, get a hemorrhoid exam immediately. This will prevent you from having much pain and discomfort down the road. You are not alone there are millions of people that suffer from hemorrhoids, either external or internal hemorrhoids. It is a quite common condition.
Getting a hemorrhoid exam:
The first place you would want to go is to your family physician. They know all your medical history or should if you have been getting regular checkups. The first step of finding out if you have hemorrhoids is to explain the symptoms that you have been having. This will give your health care provider the information they need to decide what is next. If you must get a hemorrhoid exam it is a very simple procedure but can be embarrassing to expose yourself. Doesn’t matter just do it. Getting and initial diagnosis early is key to hemorrhoid treatment with the least amount of pain and possible complications that might involve more than simple over the counter solutions, up to and including hemorrhoidectomy surgery. This should only be considered after you have exhausted all other measures and of course under the advice of your doctor.
If your general practitioner physician does not feel they can help you may be referred to a proctologist. A proctologist is a doctor who specializes in the entire structure of the colon, rectum and anus.
For the exam, you’ll be left to change out of your normal clothes and into a hospital gown. After you have changed, a nurse or physician assistant will get you situated face down on a table and you’ll be draped both for your dignity and modesty and the doctor’s comfort and safety.
Draping serves both to maintain a clean environment for the doctor to work in and to make you feel better. The only part of you visible should be the specific part the doctor needs to look at. The doctor may perform external palpitation and visual exam, where they take a long and detailed look at the exterior of the anal sphincter and may prod about a bit, feeling for lumps or anything abnormal.
If the doctor is examining internal hemorrhoids, he or she will use an anoscope, which is a tapering metal tube with a window cut in it for visual examination. The window is cut to show one quarter of the interior of the anal canal at a time, so the doctor will probably insert it a total of four times in order to visually examine everything.
After the examination is complete, everyone will leave you in privacy to get dressed again in your normal clothing.
